Chinese spies reportedly gained access to US military bases by posing as tourists

A shocking new report says that Chinese nationals, often posing as tourists, have gained access to top-secret military installations more than 100 times in recent years in the latest escalation of the communist country’s espionage war with the US.

Officials, including FBI agents and Defense Department officials, were reportedly holding summit meetings in 2022 to combat the growing problem The Wall Street Journal. Speaking to the newspaper, authorities described the problem as a “spy threat.”

Bizarre acts recently undertaken by activists from the communist country include scuba diving near Cape Canaveral, trekking to a missile launch site in New Mexico and claiming they are at a military base in Alaska.

Officials investigating the espionage say those caught are usually reported under local trespassing laws, face small fines and are told not to return. Trespassing offenses are not covered under federal law, which prevents broader scrutiny, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow told the WSJ.

This latest bombshell comes just months after the Chinese spy balloon. The plane, which US officials said had rudimentary flight controls, flew over several US nuclear missile sites in late January and early February before being shot down by an F-22 Raptor fighter jet off South Carolina.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Fort Wainright, the center of US military operations in the Arctic, has been the subject of an apparent attempt at espionage

A group of Chinese nationals were recently stopped while diving near the rocket launcher at Cape Canaveral, as shown here

Another group of Chinese posing as tourists continued on to a base in New Mexico that borders White Sands National Park

If caught, the Chinese nationals appear to be giving away a rehearsed script as they encounter security guards. They claim they are stray tourists, unnamed officials told the newspaper.

The Wall Street Journal describes Chinese nationals being “pushed” into national service.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in DC expressed optimism when questioned about the report, telling the newspaper that the claims were “purely malicious fabrications.”

“We urge relevant US officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop baseless accusations, and do more things that will help build mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples,” said Liu Pengyu.

In what the Journal calls a “current case,” a group of Chinese citizens claimed they were staying at a Holiday Inn in Fort Wainright, Alaska.

Security at the base was immediately suspicious as tourism in the area is extremely unusual. The base is the headquarters of the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division.

Emily Harding, a former official on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told WSJ that the Chinese spy operation was more of a numbers game.

“The advantage of the Chinese is that they are willing to send people in large numbers to collect.” “If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the US government to prove anything other than trespassing, and those who don’t get caught will likely snag something useful,” Harding said.

The spy balloon, which US officials said had only rudimentary flight controls, flew over a number of US nuclear missile sites

President Joe Biden downplayed the Chinese spy balloon that hovered over the US in February and claimed Beijing may have been unaware of the operation

Harding added that even if a Chinese citizen were arrested on espionage charges, it was unlikely to cause much outrage in China, unlike if a US citizen were arrested in a hostile country.

In New Mexico, a group of Chinese citizens went to a missile site near White Sands National Park. In other cases, the spies used drones to support their activities.

Another group was caught taking photos next to a naval airfield a few years ago while swimming in waters in Key West, Florida.

In 2019, three Chinese nationals were jailed for illegally taking photos at a Florida naval base.

Lyuyou Liao, 27, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to illegally trespassing on NAS Key West and taking photos and videotaping properties in the station’s Truman Annex.

Two other people, Jielun Zhang, 25, and Yuhao Wang, 24, were sentenced to 12 and nine months in prison, respectively, for entering the base and taking photos of military and naval infrastructure in January 2019.

In the same year, a Chinese woman was sentenced to eight months in prison after entering then-President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home with electronic devices and two passports.

Also in 2019, two Chinese nationals were deported from the United States after attempting to proceed to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach the Virginia pilot.

The two men, who were with their wives, said they misread the instructions and accidentally ended up at the base.

In June, President Joe Biden was criticized for downplaying the Chinese balloon scandal.

The beleaguered president suggested Beijing might not have known the spy balloon was operational.

“China has some legitimate difficulties that have nothing to do with the United States.” And I think one of the reasons that caused that balloon wasn’t so much that it was shot down, but I don’t think the leadership knew where it was and what was in it and what was going on,” Biden said in June.

“I think it was more embarrassing than intended,” he added.